Getting your event on Facebook's new suggested events feature can bring more people in to your business. Image: Flickr / garryknight / CC-BY-SA

A new feature has been quietly rolled out on Facebook that could be a boon for local businesses. Called suggested events, the feature does exactly what it sounds like: suggests events to Facebook users based on their activity on the network.

Basics of suggested events

The suggested events feature on Facebook pulls from a variety of sources to decide which events to suggest to a user. First, the places that you have checked into on Facebook are tapped and events at that location are displayed. Second, the pages you have liked and interacted with are tapped for events. Finally, any music, videos and status updates that have included event, brand, or band names are tapped to find events to post.

Prepping for suggested events

The suggested events feature can be incredibly useful for businesses, especially ones that hope to bring more customers in the door. First and foremost, have a Facebook page (NOT profile) with a claimed location. Make an effort to engage your fans, and make sure that your page generally follows the best practices for Facebook and social networking fan pages.

Event etiquette

Suggested events can be a great way to bring new fans in to your business pages. This is the case, though, only if you follow good event etiquette. Only create events if they are actual events that can be attended. Don’t create a faux-event to vote for something. Do post events that individuals can attend, and post them as a page, not with your personal profile. Be sure to link a specific location to each, so individuals who have checked in there in the past will have the event suggested to them. Most of all, provide an incentive for people at the event can check in, so a positive feedback loop of fans and suggestions can get going.

This feature has not yet rolled out to all Facebook users, see your suggested events at http://www.facebook.com/events/suggestions/.